MYSTERY BOOKS

If a casual, occasionally flippant writing style is to work, then the rhythm and tone of the dialogue has to be finely balanced. The description has to be enough to frame the scene with a pace of both energy and relaxation. Author Brad Smith gets it right from page one.

A successful criminal lawyer is found with a golf club shaft through his heart at a golf club where you don’t ask what the green fees are. As the protagonist, Virgil Cain’s temper, loose lips and troubled past catapults him to prime suspect status. All but one cop firmly subscribes to the theory that ‘he’s our man, now let’s make the evidence fit the guy’, whose just escaped custody.

More murders, some funny lines and a touch of darkness make the book a great way to start your 2012 mystery reading. Red means read it.

I found this novel in Bracebridge while on a recent trip up north for sketching and book hunting. I’d heard of author Liam Dwyer and his collection of OPP Inspector Ian Murdoch novels and finally found them. Rage & Retribution is a fine introduction to this captivating mystery series set in the Muskokas.

Murdoch is a crusty, abrasive detective with a talent for keeping his superiors on edge while connecting the dots like a master.

A senior citizen’s death on the eve of Muskoka’s most recent photo-op is inconvenient to the Brass. The solution? Assign it to Murdoch and keep him off the press radar screen.

Murdoch ends up front and centre in a well written police procedural full of humour, insight and expert pacing. Rage & Retribution can be found at the Different Drummer in Burlington or at Bryan Prince Booksellers in Hamilton.

Twelve Drummers Drummin By C.C. Benison, Doubleday Canada. $25.00

Author C.C. Benison has launched a new cozy series and it’s a good one. It’s a puzzle of human secrets, fears and motives. The setting in a bucolic village serves as a foil to the murder. The evil be may be served up with a bit of lace but the victim is just as dead.

A magician turned Vicar, Rev. Tom Christmas, new to the village and recovering from the recent murder of his wife finds a young parishioner dead inside a drum.

Descriptions are colourful and the dialogue moves the action along at a good clip. Twelve Drummers Drumming kept me turning the pages, especially as the conclusion is unveiled.

The Girl in the Wall, By Alison Preston. Signature Editions. $16.95

A down-home style makes The Girl in the Wall an irresistible treat. The protagonist, former Inspector Frank Foote of the Winnipeg Police Force, along with a new partner in a home renovation business, find a skeleton of a young female as they are opening up a wall.

The story-telling feels real. The integration of the setting, the action and dialogue spin a tale that grabs hold.

Mrs. Mortimer, a quaint soul whose life’s calling is taking photos of the recently deceased is a highlight of character portrayal and makes this novel an award contender. The Girl in the Wall is a must read.

The Top Ten for 2011.

The top 10 list is changing a little this year. We all depend on that small group of writers like Peter Robinson, Louise Penny, Giles Blunt and Linwood Barclay to name a few. This year’s focus will be on the bench strength -- that body of writers which sustains Canada as a leader in mystery/thriller story-tellers.

Cherry Beach Express by R.D. Cain. (ECW Press)

Death at Christy Burkes’ by Anne Emery. (ECW Press)

Death of a Lesser Man by Thomas Rendell Curran. (Boulder Publications)

Picasso Blues by Lee Lamothe. (Dundurn)

Reluctant Dead. By John Moss (Dundurn)

Scattered Light by Jean Rae Baxter. (Seraphim Editions)

The Case Against Owen Williams By Allan Donaldson. (Vagrant Press)

The End of the Line By Stephen Legault (Touchwood Editions)

The Guilty Plea By Robert Rotenberg. (Simon & Schuster)

The Survivor By Sean Slater (Simon & Schuster)

Thanks for reading and best wishes for another year of great mystery reading.